In conversation With Fred Boycott on the art of a forward defence

If you use Twitter and enjoy your cricket then chances are that the mystery of Fred Boycott may well have piqued your curiosity.

With a bio that reads: ‘Yorkshire’s Greatest Living Batsman and t’finest fast bowler that ever drew breath. I say what I like and I like what I say,’ Fred is a character well worth a look.

This interview was from 2014 and is being promoted as part of Cricket Yorkshire’s 10-year anniversary in 2020. If you’ve not seen it yet – enjoy!

We put out a request to meet in person with Fred but he was at nets. So, we did the next best thing and make contact via e-mail and back flew these responses every bit as measured as his forward defence.

Morning Fred. What do you make of this year’s new NatWest T20 Blast? Still room to #digin?

As you know I am a big fan of proper cricket so T20 is not really for me. It is more Sports Entertainment than Sport. The kids seem to love it and I suppose anyone with a short attention span will.

It has elements of that WWF Wrestling thingy to it, before long the captains will be shouting at each other and hitting each other with stepladders. (You heard it here first).

I prefer to watch a long slow grind over 5 days. Batting is all about risk elimination. Sloggin’ is not for me.

Fair enough. What changes would you like to bring in for T20? What past players would have been ideal for this fancy dan form of the game – Brian Close?

I re-wrote the rules of T20, and sent them to the ECB for consideration, last year in an attempt to protect proper cricket please see link to my blog:

http://fredboycott.blogspot.com/2013/01/twenty20-time-for-change.html

* Editor’s note: Fred is something of a pioneer with past suggestions such as: The winners of each game shall be the team that loses fewer wickets; All teams to wear all white clothing, with no names or number on the back. Red ball, white sight screen; Uncovered pitches will be used for all games; Duckworth-Lewis will be scrapped. Teams to play whatever the weather.

I’m still waiting for the ECB to reply to my proposals.

I don’t think Brian Close would have approved of T20, he wasn’t too keen on the Gillette Cup when it reduced from 65 to 60 overs.

Ian Botham would have loved it. Colin Milburn would have been a decent slogger at it. But the player that would have been perfect for it has to be Garry Sobers. Batter, fast bowling and spinner, all in one.

From the cricket you’ve watched so far, what shape are Yorkshire in across formats?

Yorkshire are ideally set for the County Championship, with players waiting in the wings to cover for the England players. In fact if I was a Yorkshire player that got the England call, I would be seriously worried about getting back in the Yorkshire team.

Can’t see them doing much in any of the white ball stuff. Although they’ll say otherwise, I don’t think they are really committed to all this Vikings nonsense. It’s just a bit of fun for them.

OWMUCH?! would you charge for county and international matches – is it the cost of cricket putting off folk in Yorkshire for internationals?

Price is a massive issue these days and Yorkshire have already admitted they got the International prices wrong last season and have promised future reductions. It doesn’t affect me directly as I’m still sneaking in via Headingley Dave’s back garden.

If I had to pitch prices, I would charge anybody north of Sheffield £20 a ticket and anybody south of Sheffield £80. They love high prices down south. This seems the fairest way to me.

Who would you pick for the first Test against Sri Lanka (assuming you’re captain, of course…)

Boycott (Fred). Coach, captain, opening bat and opening bowler.
Root
Lees
Gale
Bairstow wk
Bresnan
Ballance
Sidebottom
Plunkett
Rashid
Brooks
Pyrah (12th man)

This side would draw with anybody in the world over 5 days.

Thanks to Fred for taking time out of his busy schedule teaching the next generation how to master the forward defence.

You can catch his latest opinions on Twitter (@FredBoycott) or http://fredboycott.blogspot.co.uk.